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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May-June 2009, pages 69-70 Waging Peace Congressmen Call for Gaza Crossings To Be Opened
THE NEW AMERICA Foundation, a centrist think tank in Washington, DC, hosted a March 5 event on Capitol Hill featuring Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who discussed their recent trip to Gaza and Israel and called for the immediate opening of the crossings into Gaza. Baird and Ellison showed clips from a video they took which included conversations they’d had with everyday Gazans, including a shopkeeper in Jabalya refugee camp and children. “We have only one message for you today,” Ellison said. “The crossings must open.” This will cut down on the tunnel traffic and make sure nothing goes into Gaza that will endanger Israeli security, he said. “This will also address the desperate humanitarian conditions we saw in Gaza,” Ellison added. “We saw the industrial infrastructure bashed to the ground. We saw the American International School bashed to the ground.” Baird pulled out from the rubble the American school’s yearbook, which showed the tremendous amount of hope and promise the students had and the dedication of their teachers. They’d also found a book about baseball, he said, which must have been a teacher’s edition since it was full of yellow sticky notes. The teacher had been discussing prejudice by using a vignette about Jackie Robinson. “How quintessentially American can you get to try and use baseball to teach about tolerance and compassion?” Baird asked. Ellison said they were received with cordiality and never heard an angry word or an anti-Israel comment. Nearly everyone said, “We want peace.” The children were much like his own kids. They called out, “I love you!” They all know Obama, Ellison added, saying he’d have been elected in even greater numbers in Gaza than he was here. There is a strong active lobby in the United States which works for Israeli security, Ellison said. There is a smaller less organized lobby for the Palestinian side. “In my opinion what we lack is a constituency for peace...people who are willing to say the U.S. has to be part of the solution.” Ellison pointed out that peace is possible in the Middle East, where 300 million people live, and could transform it into a thriving, prosperous region. “There are clearly wrongs on both sides, but that doesn’t justify one action or another,” Baird said. In Sderot they saw a collection of rockets that Israelis have been subjected to over time and met with people who are dealing with stress. “We aren’t taking one side against the other,” he reiterated. Gazans need immediate humanitarian aid, he said. There are issues in the West Bank, too. It’s not enough to throw money, however, he added. Rapprochement between Hamas and the PA is also required. “We need to reevaluate our policy and move the peace process forward,” Baird said. “What is happening there is a threat to our security which, given this pin [pointing to his congressional lapel pin], should be our highest priority. U.S. security and integrity throughout the world should be our highest priority. We need to seriously re-evaluate our policy.” An Al-Jazeera reporter mentioned the Arab world’s perception that for decades Congress has been one-sided in its support for Israel, and asked if their trip marked a change. Baird responded that he and his colleagues aren’t anti-Israel, but “I have good friends who criticize me, and I learn from them. It is time for us to see you can criticize a friend and not be considered anti-that friend.” Congress’ first priority has to be the United States, Baird reiterated, but collective punishment in the West Bank and Gaza is not in the interests of Israel itself, either. There are lots of one-sided resolutions in Congress, Baird added, and many of his colleagues say they wish resolutions were more measured, nuanced and critical of both sides. The numbers of the final votes don’t reflect the underlying sentiments people have, he said. Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ), who also traveled to the West Bank and Israel on a later trip, joined the discussion. He said he, too, never feared for his safety. “People are not looking for a fight,” he said, “but looking to rebuild their lives and raise their kids.” He called for reconstruction aid, not just humanitarian aid, explaining, “They need actual sacks of concrete.” After his visit Holt talked with the prime minister of Israel, who told him there is no limitation on medical supplies going into Gaza, but the head of the U.N. relief said there has been an X-ray machine sitting outside the Gaza border for a year. “There is clearly a role for outside help and mediation,” Holt said. “The U.S. is not helping enough.” New America Foundation Middle East Task Force director Daniel Levy emphasized the extent to which opening the crossings would create economic breathing space for Gazans and also act as a disincentive for provocations by Hamas. Watch the complete hearing at: <www.youtube.com/watch?v=74boaFtZvCA#t=14m36s> and another about the trip: <www.ellison.house.gov>. See photos —Delinda C. Hanley |
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